Film News

Ian McKellen Joins Live-Action Beauty and the Beast

The film will star Emily Blunt and a host of stage and screen favorites.

Ian McKellen joins Disney's live-action Beauty and the Beast.
Ian McKellen joins Disney's live-action Beauty and the Beast.

Stage and screen legend Ian McKellen (Waiting for Godot, No Man's Land, The Lord of the Rings) is the latest among a host of stars who have signed on for the upcoming live-action film version of Beauty and the Beast, according to Variety. The actor will play the wise clock Cogsworth.

McKellen joins the previously announced Emma Watson (the Harry Potter series) as Belle, Dan Stevens (Downton Abbey) as the Beast, Luke Evans (The Hobbit) as Gaston, Tony nominee Josh Gad (The Book of Mormon) as LeFou, Emma Thompson (Saving Mrs. Banks) as Mrs. Potts, Kevin Kline (A Fish Called Wanda) as Maurice, and Audra McDonald (Lady Day at Emerson's Bar & Grill) as Garderobe.

Directed by Bill Condon, with a screenplay by Stephen Chbosky, the film will feature new recordings of now-classic songs like "Be Our Guest" and the Oscar-winning title number by Howard Ashman and Alan Menken, as well as new songs penned by Menken and Tim Rice.

The Oscar-nominated 1991 animated feature version of Beauty and the Beast grossed more than $375 million worldwide and inspired the long-running Tony-nominated musical, which ran on Broadway for over 13 years.